Right now there is such a torrent of televised, internet and printed commentary on the US national election of 2012, and yet so little clear perspective for the general public. How could it be otherwise when every commentator and media outlet has a bias to push? What escapes many members of the public is that both of the major parties (the Democrats and Republicans) have a much greater degree of consensus than they like to admit, and that this consensus is on the fundamental purpose of the US government, which is: to use money and arms to serve corporate capitalism. The how and why of this reality is explained in the following article, which includes a general purpose guide for any voter (or non-voter) in this election, and a suggestion to go beyond voting to create social change.

Voting Illusions And Reality 2012
8 October 2012
http://www.swans.com/library/art18/mgarci54.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While “Voting Illusions And Reality 2012” is the most comprehensive article I have written on US electoral politics, its core synthesis was clearly presented four years ago in the article “On Voting (A Ritual of Justifying Biases).” Out of curiosity about the accuracy of my punditry, I reviewed my articles on US elections since 2004. I find that I have had the same bundle of ideas about US electoral politics all this time, but that the bundle became better organized in 2008. I list the articles below, for those who want to recall the previous appearances of the the same “lesser evil” dilemma. Do you think it will be any different in 2016?

McCain Versus Kerry?
21 June 2004
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/mgarci16.html
(Voting is restricted to a popularity contest between two corporate capitalist candidates, the Democratic Party being entirely corporate capitalist and excluding left/progressive policies while expecting leftists to vote Democratic as the lesser evil.)

What Your Vote Means
20 September 2004
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/mgarci22.html
(Vote the Molly Ivins way, for maximum compassion from between the two allowed corporate/imperial candidates. Voting maintains the status quo, change is effected by social action beyond voting)

The Roots of Corruption (Election 2006)
9 November 2006
http://www.counterpunch.org/garcia11092006.html
(The Democratic-Republican duopolistic consensus is to have elections change nothing, since the two parties are just opposite sides of the same corporate capitalist coin. If one side become badly tarnished the nation’s managers just flip to the shinier side and act as if the public has been given a new coin of different currency.)

Paying No Attention to the Presidential Campaigns
11 January 2008
http://www.counterpunch.org/garcia01112008.html
(Corporate capitalism and its American Empire own the voting game. Anti-capitalist candidates are excluded. The election determines the hierarchy of pork barrel payoffs within the ranks of the corporate owners of the game. The public gets the leavings and the bones — if any — of the corporate feasting on public resources.)

Obama and the Psychic Auto-Shrink-Wrapping Called Race in America
20 March 2008
http://www.counterpunch.org/garcia03202008.html
(Obama is a careerist corporate capitalist candidate with nothing substantive to offer leftists, socialists, anti-capitalists, for if he did he wouldn’t be allowed to be a candidate. His value to corporate capitalism is the popularity of his imagery with blacks and traditional liberal Democratic voters, on whom the policies of corporate capitalism are predatory.)

Running Mates From The Imaginary Plane
6 May 2008
http://www.counterpunch.org/mango05062008.html
(A comedy based on the idea that the leading candidates are all of the same corporate capitalist type, so they can be interchanged between the Democratic and Republican Parties.)

On Voting (A Ritual of Justifying Biases)
8 August 2008
http://www.counterpunch.org/garcia08082008.html
(My clearest analysis of corporate capitalism controlled US voting, prior to “Voting Illusions And Reality 2012.”)

Dear Democrats, About 2012…
27 July 2010,
http://www.counterpunch.org/garcia07272010.html
(Criticizing the duopolistic Democratic Party by listing the policies I would wish a progressive Democratic Party, or a viable anti-capitalist third party to act on.)

Bayesian Bargains: Jail, Shopping, Debt, and Voting
30 January 2012
http://www.swans.com/library/art18/mgarci39.html
(Voting for the lesser evil is logically analyzed, and solved by action beyond voting: “a person clear about their commitments and willing to accept the costs of maintaining them will always see the right choice to make.”)

<><>